This week in Las Vegas, Suzuki has unveiled its 2011 GSX-R600 and GSX-R750 models, and the word of the day is "thinner." Just like all the beautiful people who you see in the casinos and on the strip in Vegas, the 2K-11 Gixxers have spent time with a trainer, with both bikes losing close to 20 ell-bee's. Light makes might, so look for the 600 and 750 to up the performance ante in Suzuki's favor.
Okay, here's the bottom line: Suzuki's new 2011 GSX-R600 and GSX-R750 models have received massive upgrades and are basically track day bikes from the factory one can ride on the street.
The 600cc machine that won the 2010 Daytona SportBike championship has lost over 20 pounds and the 750 is just under its brother's diet mark, but the Jenny Craig bit isn't really the important part. Mass centralization efforts have put the weight in the right spots for go-fast purposes, so the bike handles better and brakes harder.
Shaving off 20 plus pounds can't be gained in any one area, so the list of parts that have trimmed up is quite long. It includes the exhaust and bodywork, engine parts, and even the axle bolts.
The frame and swingarm have been revised, with Suzuki having a breakthrough in the way they make the swingarms. Now they can make any shape they want and still keep the proper stiffness.
Both also receive better kit in the form of Brembo radial front brakes specifically designed for the bikes and the 'big piston' fork like the GSX-R1000 has -- but these are damped specifically for the little brothers.
GSX-R models always have a slim, nimble feel through the seat to the rider but after Soup sat on these bikes in Vegas last weekend, the '11s are even more so.
Power is nearly the same, the Suzuki engineers told us, but a couple of spots in the power curve have been balanced out and the gearing is altered. The first three gears have been changed with the track in mind but the lower weight makes pulling away on the street the same as before.
The bikes look nearly the same as the last gen but it belies all the changes inside. Styling detail differences include some aero work and a narrower (from top to bottom) rear cowl area you can see if you are looking for it. Two more refinements are the tank and bars; the tank has been smoothed out (big boys now fit on the bike better and can tuck in more comfortably) and the bars are a degree wider.
The changes are no doubt evolutionary but there are so many, the folks from Suzuki say it verges on revolutionary. They bring up the '96/'97 GSX-R models that upped the sportbike game when discussing the '11s.
List price is $11,599 for the GSX-R600 and $400 more for the GSX-R750. The bikes should start hitting the showrooms in February.
Suzuki has been a bit quiet during the recession and this is a troubled time for the bike market but their engineers have come up big on this one, we feel.
